It is well known in motor vehicles to provide a combination lap-shoulder seat belt assembly including a shoulder belt webbing for extending across the torso of an occupant and a lap belt webbing for extending generally horizontally across the lap of the occupant. Typically, the lap-shoulder seat belt assembly includes a triangular-shaped bracket, hereinafter referred to as a D-ring, which is pivotally mounted to the vehicle body by a nut and a relatively large shoulder bolt cantilevered outwardly from the vehicle. The bolt must be sufficiently strong to anchor the D-ring during a sudden vehicle deceleration. In addition, the bolt must be sufficiently elongate to axially space the D-ring away from the vehicle body to allow the entire D-ring to pivot about the bolt.
The D-ring is secured at a location proximate an upper portion of a vehicle seat. The shoulder belt webbing is routed through a slot in the D-ring and held relative the vehicle body by the D-ring. During normal vehicle use, the entire D-ring pivots about the bolt to allow adjustment of the angle of the shoulder belt webbing across the torso of various occupants seated in the vehicle.
This typical D-ring arrangement requires a relatively large, long, heavy bolt secured by an appropriate nut. The D-ring and bolt are typically made of a metal material, such as steel. The shoulder belt webbing and lap belt webbing are typically preassembled and delivered to the vehicle assembly location with the D-ring, a latch plate, an anchor plate, and a retractor mechanism already securely attached to the lap and shoulder belt webbing. The D-ring, anchor plate, and retractor mechanism are each then suitably attached to the vehicle during vehicle assembly. Thus, when the D-ring is bolted to the vehicle body, all of the other components of the lap-shoulder belt assembly must be handled at the same time.